Two killed in Israeli strike on Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

An Israeli strike in south Lebanon hit the country’s largest Palestinian refugee camp on Friday, killing at least two people, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

The official National News Agency (NNA) later reported "heavy strikes" in the country's east, as Israel's army said it hit "Hezbollah command centres" in the Baalbek area.

Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, mostly targeting what it says are the militant group's sites and operatives but occasionally targets belonging to its Palestinian ally Hamas.

The NNA said "an Israeli drone" targeted a neighbourhood of the Ain al-Helweh camp, which is located on the outskirts of the southern city of Sidon.

Lebanon's health ministry said two people were killed in the raid.

The Israeli military claimed in a statement that it had targeted a Hamas command centre “from which terrorists operated” in the Ain al-Helweh area.

A senior Hamas source told The New Arab that the site hit was a headquarters of the Joint Security Force inside the Hittin neighbourhood, a well-known body tasked with maintaining security and stability within the camp.

The source denied it was a Hamas facility and accused Israel of seeking to draw Palestinian refugee camps into what it described as ongoing daily attacks on Lebanese territory.

The source added that Ein el-Hilweh, home to an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 residents, was being singled out because it is the largest Palestinian camp in Lebanon.

The strike marks the deadliest attack on Ein el-Hilweh since 18 November last year, when an Israeli raid killed 13 people and wounded nine, days before a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon entered into force on 27 November 2024.

Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes in Lebanon despite the ceasefire, which aimed to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah. 

It has also targeted sites it says are linked to Hamas, Hezbollah’s Palestinian ally, without providing any evidence.

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee condemned the latest strike, calling it a violation of Lebanese sovereignty, international law and the ceasefire agreement, and warning it could further destabilise conditions inside Palestinian camps.

Israeli attacks continued elsewhere in southern Lebanon on Friday. 

An Israeli drone reportedly struck a stone quarry on the outskirts of Markaba in the Marjayoun district, causing material damage, while machine gun fire was reported from an Israeli position at Jabal al-Blat towards the outskirts of Marwahin and Shihin in the Tyre district.

The outskirts of Yaroun in the Bint Jbeil district were also reportedly targeted by Israeli gunfire, as Israeli aircraft flew at low altitude over parts of southern Lebanon, as well as over Beirut and its southern suburbs.

As Israeli ground incursions in the south increase, the Lebanese army has reinforced its deployment in border villages as part of its plan to extend state authority. However, the army has repeatedly said that its full deployment remains hindered by Israel’s continued occupation of five positions in southern Lebanon.